[ start of becoming a hale ]

the volume of the carradio to a higher voltage, Eleanor Hale began moving her head to the beat of the music, grinning as her brothers amused laughs fell throughout the vehicle due to her horrific high pitched singing.

The car groaned in dissatisfaction as it rolled over the abundance of twigs and leaves surrounding the Beacon Hill preserve floor, following the dirt track Derek himself had made prior that lead to the remaining walls of their family house.

It was dark outside, just turned nine o'clock when the car halted to a stop outside where Eleanor, Jaden and Derek had chosen to stay. The stars were setting in the sky, as if someone had painted them and were waiting for them to dry, and the moon nearly full as it inched closer to that time of month.

A dull ache sounded from within the car doors' bolts as the siblings pushed them open, clambering out of the now warm vehicle as they looked ahead at the remaining of a house, sighing in disbelief at the sight before moving toward the back of the car, heaving their loaded bags toward the front door Derek had remembered so well.

It was the last night of summer in Beacon Hills before kids aged four to eighteen were required to attend their next year of school, a month before Eleanor and Jaden's birthday. With this celebration came a special occasion they had only endured twice in their lives, the current day being a third.

For most teenagers, turning sixteen was a big life event, however it was even more so for Jaden and Eleanor Hale. This age meant they could finally have control over their lives and live with whom they wanted. They were both born into a supernatural family but sent away for reasons neither of them had yet to come across.

On their eighth birthday, their adoptive parents were killed in a fatal car accident on their way home from work. After this, they were given the opportunity to live with a loving married couple named Bobby and Lily Finstock. And finally, a year later, they were introduced to their biological siblings, Laura and Derek Hale.

With that being said, the four became very close, almost as if they had known each other their whole lives. Of course, neither Jaden or Eleanor had come of age to decide that they wanted to live with their family until now. However, Laura had vanished a few weeks prior to this, and Jaden, Eleanor and Derek continued to search high and low for their sister, hoping that she would be present for the special occasion, the final step to the twins officially becoming a Hale.

Nonetheless, Derek, Eleanor and Jaden refused to delay the event, reminding each other that Laura would come home eventually and that they still had each other's presence to be content with. No matter how clueless they were to what had really happened to their sister, they stuck together and decided that today would finally be the day that they would become a proper family, Laura or not.

Walking closer to the front door, Jaden's grin widened as he threw an arm around Eleanor's shoulders, squeezing her gently in excitement as Derek watched them, a loving look in his eye that sat beneath his monotone stare and lifeless exterior. He resented the thought of showing any emotion, but when it involved the only family he had left, he wouldn't skip it in a heartbeat.

Pushing the door open with his spare hand, he eyed the twins with a pointed stare, awaiting them to enter the house with their bags held firmly in their grasps. They both nodded at their older brother before stepping onto the wooden flooring, allowing a squeak and a low moan to escape from beneath them as Derek followed behind them.

"I know it isn't much. But-"

Eleanor rolled her eyes at him, turning on her heel to maintain eye contact with her sibling. "Nonsense Der, we both love it. Don't we Jade?"

The older twin's attention followed to the conversation being held by his two remaining family members. "Yeah, of course. It feels like home."

The statement sent Derek into a smiling frenzy, wrapping the two into a hug to show his sincere gratitude, allowing them the first family moment in a whirl pool of mysterious disappearances and supernatural disaster. However, the moment was cut short when the three siblings' heightened ear sense picked up the sound of rustling leaves and murmured words.

"Stay here." Both brothers ordered firmly, pointing at the wooden plank Eleanor stood upon before averting their attention to the front door.

As they opened it cautiously, Eleanor scoffed to herself. "As if!"

Following her two brothers outside, she watched as a group of police officers, accompanied by flashlights and trained police dogs, searched the woods for something she had yet to find out about.

Without further notice, she channelled her attention into focusing on the two mumbling police officers that were currently mid conversation on the topic of the investigation they were handling.

"I don't understand how someone could do such a gruesome thing, do you?" The man shuddered, adjusting the dog lead in his hand as the second officer nodded his head in agreement.

"Then again, chopping an innocent girl in half never normally appeals to anybody Hank. Whoever we're dealing with is dangerous, especially if they can do something like this." Eleanor gasped at the words spoken from the two men stood metres away from her but continued to eavesdrop on their conversation to see if she could gather any more information on the investigation.

"We'll think about who we're dealing with later. Right now, we need to find the second half of that body." And with that, they fell back into silence, their hands moving individual flashlights to survey each officers surroundings.

Derek already began to piece together what could have happened to their sister and turned to look at the twins, noticing the same look plastered across their face, probably trying to understand the reality of the situation much like he was doing.

Laura had gone missing in Beacon Hills only a two weeks prior and now a young girl had been murdered, pulled apart and been left in the Preserve to find. It sounded like they had already found the first half of the body and were now looking for the second half.

In the distance, Eleanor's attention wavered over to two boys sneaking through the trees, murmuring between themselves before falling flat on the soiled flooring, trying to disguise themselves as part of the Preserve as the officers neared them.

She let out a giggle at the two familiar faces camouflaging themselves in the trees but nonetheless followed her two brothers back into the abandoned house, shutting the resemblance of a door behind her as a smile crept on to her peaceful face, no matter how disastrous the situation could potentially be.

At that very moment, she was surrounded by her two brothers whom cared for her greatly and would walk to the ends of the earth to protect, as she would rightfully do for them, and she was content with the feeling that spread within her as she watched her two siblings embrace each other in a hug.

"Right, head to bed. You've got school tomorrow." Derek demanded of them, pointing to the rickety wooden staircase stood in front of the door as Eleanor and Jaden released synchronised groans of dissatisfaction.

"Der, it's eleven o'clock!" Jaden whined, flittering about Derek as Eleanor joined him in convincing their older brother that they should be able to stay up past that time.

"Please? We need to unpack and everything!" Eleanor overdramatised the situation, looking over at the several bags of luggage piled into the corner of the room as Derek sighed.

"Not a chance, you can deal with your belongings when you get home tomorrow afternoon. Now, up to your rooms!" The twins only let out yet another moan in disagreement.

"What about you, huh? Why can you stay up?" The youngest sibling huffed, crossing her arms over her chest in an attempt to catch her oldest brother off guard.

"I need to get the rest of the bags from the car, okay?"

"Not if you don't have your keys!" Eleanor shrieked, snatching the metal objects held together by a ring from his hands before grasping the front door and pulling it open, running out into the the cool night air, her feet causing a rustling of leaves beneath her.

Derek soon joined her in the moonlight, snarling his canines playfully. "I think you're forgetting that I'm much faster than you are."

She screamed in surprise as he appeared in front of her, turning to look behind him as she heard her twin's voice. "El!" She chucked the set of keys to him without so much as a pause as Jaden grinned, parading them in the air to tempt Derek.

As soon as the oldest werewolf neared Jaden, Eleanor became the supernatural creature possessing the keys, running away from the two boys. However, it was too late, and a squeal of delight left her lips as she was lifted from the ground and on to Derek's shoulders.

He carried her back inside the house, followed by a hysterical Jaden caused by the sight of his sister upside down on his brothers shoulder, and set her down on the wooden flooring, pulling the keys from her small hands before sighing in exhaustion.

"Alright, stay up a bit longer, just don't make too much of a noise?" He asked of them, pinching the bridge of his nose as they agreed silently, bidding goodnight to him as he picked up his bags, placed a gentle kiss on Eleanor's forehead, and climbed the stairs to his bedroom.

The twins watched as he entered his room before deciding that they would catch up on some well needed sleep instead of exploring the house. They would do that at a later date, but for now, all they wished for was to fall asleep among a comfy bed and a warm aroma.

Jaden shuffled over to where the bags toppled amongst themselves and managed to collect each and every one of them in his grasp, smiling at Eleanor as she glared.

"You know, I find it rather disturbing that you think I can't carry my own luggage. We're of the same supernatural species Jade." She commented.

"Really El? Because you seem to have forgotten that Der and I aren't Empaths." He spoke cockily, allowing Eleanor to raise a perfectly plucked brow at her brother.

"C'mon Jaden, you know what I mean. I'm perfectly capable of carrying my own bags."

And with a few more minutes of arguing and a yell from Derek's room telling them to be quiet, Eleanor bounded toward the top of the stairs, holding her bags with ease. Jaden followed her shortly, both deciding that they would choose the two rooms adjacent to each other.

They called goodnight to each other in a whisper, careful not to disturb their moody older brother in the room next to Eleanor's, and rushed into their own, smiles etched across their youthful faces.

With that, they dropped their bags on to the floor and crawled into bed, forgetting all about their start to a new school the following day.

[ end of becoming a hale ]